Opening Reception Open Vault: Week is a sponsored by ACTRA four day celebration of the quality and diverse independent film and video work that has been created in Manitoba over the past 35 years. Please join us for a Pre-Screening Reception at PLATFORM* With a DVD release, seven feature film screenings, to kick off Open Vault: Independent Film Week. and four curated shorts programs featuring over Thursday NOV 27 40 historic short films and videos culled from the 6 – 7pm libraries of the Winnipeg Film Group and Video Pool, Open Vault is designed to present Manitobans with an exciting offering of high-quality, home-grown Closing Reception and Illusion of Normalcy talent that has emerged from this province DVD Release Party over the past 35 years. Please join us for the Closing Reception and Illusion of Normalcy DVD Release Party at PLATFORM* to close Open Vault: Independent Film Week. Sunday NOV 30 6 – 7pm

*PLATFORM centre for photographic + digital arts 121-100 Arthur Street, across from the Cinematheque

DESign: Paul kim Imagine the Winnipeg landscape In the early days, Cinematheque was the only place will always be its first home. It is where filmmakers without our beloved Cinematheque. in Winnipeg to see these films, because it was — first truly experience the interconnection between Reflecting on this enables one to and has become once again — the only cinema their work and the audience — sometimes fulfilling house with the technical capacity to screen both all their hopes and aspirations, and sometimes, think about the contribution our 35 mm and 16 mm films. Today, in the digital age, unfortunately, providing utter devastation and spur- cinema has had within the com­ we often speak of content and DVDs and indeed Cin- ring soul-searching. Audiences and critics have munity. Twenty-five years ago, ematheque not only screens films, but also videos their opinions, and not all indulge us. Regardless the Winnipeg Film Group reflected and other newer formats, but the capacity to screen of the outcome, however, this step is of vital im- upon the landscape at the time – films is still an important one. Not all work is new, portance to the careers of filmmakers. We are and often it is just as important to reflect on histori- forced to ask ourselves why we do what we do Winnipeg did not have a movie cal works as it is to access new ones. Imagine need- and — hopefully — we become stronger technic­ally, theatre to see the very best of ing a technological interface to read the plays of we become better storytellers, and we become world film, nor did it have a screen- Shakespeare. While access to copies that are more much stronger filmmakers for these experiences. ing venue that was accessible for broadly viewable is important, there is a difference between a work and a copy. Looking at a picture of As integral as Cinematheque is to provide access local filmmakers to present their Picasso’s Guernica is an important thing from the to the very best of world cinema to the community, works to the community. perspective of access to ideas and an understanding it plays as important a role to the development of of history, but looking at it in its original form and in Manitoba filmmakers locally. The audience is in- In Canada, the general community does not have the context in which it was intended to be present- tegral to this progress, and absolutely necessary. easy access to see the work of Canadian film­ ed is an irreplaceable experience. Wide access to Cinematheque is an interface between the creators makers, and responding to this core problem with- copies is important, but a copy will never replace of cinema and the community, and this is an impor- in Winnipeg was one of Cinematheque’s key objec- the original. Something intended to be screened tant distinction from being a place where movies tives. It may seem like a given today, but the reality in the dark in a cinema house, will be a different are merely consumed. For our 25th of the 25 special is that the vision of the Cinematheque was a daring thing if viewed on a television or computer screen. events we are holding in 2008 to celebrate Cinema- one to begin with and was one that was built upon theque’s silver anniversary year, we celebrate the the Winnipeg Film Group’s core vision: we dare Manitoba film has always been at home at Cinema- history of Manitoba film as it is vitally interconnected to believe that the work of Canadian filmmakers is theque. Before the work of local filmmakers were to our much-loved cinema house. Enjoy. valuable and important and we dare to believe that exported out, as it were, to achieve attention and the community has the right to see this work. acclaim elsewhere, Cinematheque has always and -Winnipeg Film Group Bordertown Café by Norma Bailey 1993 | 100:00 | comedy/drama Thursday NOV 27 7:00pm

Marlene is the owner of a nostalgic cafe on the Norma Bailey grew up in Gimli, Manitoba and merous awards including Geminis, Blizzards, the border of Canada and the U.S.A. Filled with graduated from the University of Manitoba’s School New York American Film and Television Award, the quirky and charming characters, life at the of Architecture in the early 70’s. After practicing for Los Angeles Lillian Gish Award, and she was a re- cafe is exciting, entertaining and sometimes only a year she packed her bags and headed east cipient of the YWCA Woman of the Year Award and chaotic. The envy of his friends because of his with a mad filmmaker from Montréal. While working the Queen’s Jubilee Medal for significant contribu- eccentric lifestyle, Marlene’s seventeen-year- as a caterer and helping out on other people’s films, tion to Canadian Culture. When her first indepen- old son, Jimmy dreams of a life behind a white she began working on her own ideas, and in 1979 dent feature film, Bordertown Café, was released picket fence. His mother’s attachment to the she made her first ,The Performer, which in 1993, Norma became the first Manitoba woman past and her reluctance to move on, severe­ won a Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Festival. filmmaker to have completed an independent dra- ly strains their relationship. Jimmy’s wishes matic feature film; to this day, she remains the only come true when his father remarries, and asks In 1980 Norma returned to Manitoba and created woman in this category. Jimmy to join him in his new life. The stabil- the award-winning television drama series Daugh­ ity that Jimmy has been yearning for is sud- ters Of The Country. She has since produced and denly at his fingertips. Jimmy feels inexplica- directed many documentaries and movies and has bly torn. Marlene, devastated with the news, adapted the works of David Adams Richards, Mar- finally finds herself reaching out to Jimmy. garet Atwood, and Alice Munroe. She has won nu-

4 FEATURE FILMS INerTia by Sean Garrity 2001 | 92:00 | romance/comedy Friday NOV 28 9:00pm

Restlessness, doubt, desire, and regret are get Laura back. He is unaware that Laura and made a number of documentaries and short films, the main characters in writer-director Sean Bruce slept together when Joseph and Laura including Middle, which won awards at film festi- Garrity’s INerTia, his challenging and comi- first started seeing each other. Bruce, who re- vals in Toronto and Vancouver; How Much for a cal debut feature film. INerTia examines the cently married Yumi in an effort to leave his Half Kilo?, which won the Best Film Award at the complicated romantic inter-relations of four pleasure-seeking lifestyle behind, now finds Calgary Independent Film Festival; and Buenos urban 20-somethings as they stumble into himself attracted to Joseph’s nineteen-year- Aires Souvenir, which was an Official Selection at awkward infidelity and unrequited love in old cousin, Alex. Alex, on the other hand, is the Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival. His first feature search of something more. obsessed with Joseph. In this anti-romance film,INerTia , was awarded “Best First Feature” at drama, four people blindly follow their desires, the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival, and The lives of the four characters in this film are and only realize where it has taken them, once netted him “Best Director” at the 2001 FilmCan sidetracked by desire into deception, adultery, it’s too late. Festival. The Globe & Mail named him one of three and incest. Joseph cannot accept that Laura “Canadian Filmmakers to Watch” in 2002. Sean doesn’t want him anymore. Laura wants to Sean Garrity is a filmmaker and musician. He also works as a bass player, having appeared on explore other options. She is currently in- studied film production and theory at York Univer- half a dozen CDs, and performs live most week- fatuated with Joseph’s married friend, Bruce. sity in Toronto and the Instituto de Arte Cinema­ ends in Winnipeg, where he lives. Joseph believes, with Bruce’s help, he can tografico de Avellaneda in Buenos Aires. He has

FEATURE 5 FILMS Hey, Happy! by Noam Gonick 2001 | 75:00 | comedy/fantasy Friday NOV 28 11:00pm

A prairie boy’s libido triggers an apocalypse. and Native arson gangs in Winnipeg to general Hey, Happy! (2001), is a midnight cult classic set in strikes, psychics and queer back-to-the-land hippie the Winnipeg rave scene on the eve of an apoca- DJ Sabu spins apocalypse when his overac- cults. He has presented work at the Venice, Berlin, lyptic flood. His feature film Stryker (2004) is a tive libido leads him into teenage pregnancy. Toronto and Sundance Film Festivals and at the gang war movie focusing on Winnipeg’s Aboriginal His mythic quest for two thousand boys ends Museum of Modern art in New York. His films have community in the North End. Gonick collaborated with Happy, a paranoid UFO-ologist to whom been collected by the National Gallery of Canada, with artist Rebecca Belmore on her installation for aliens promise to appear (as his love child). the National Archives and the Australian Cinema- the Venice Biennale in 2005. He recently created a Spanky is an evil hairdresser trying to foil theque. Noam’s work has been broadcast and re- television pilot entitled Retail and his latest piece, Sabu’s mission at every turn. He is the self- leased theatrically and on DVD around the world. the multi-screen film installation Wildflowers of proclaimed “biggest bitch in the world”. The Manitoba, was recently purchased by the UBC action unfolds at a series of raves on old Gar- His first film 1919 (1997) was a re-visioning of the Belkin Art Gallery in Vancouver. He is currently bage Hill in a strange place we call Winnipeg. 1919 General Strike set in a Chinese barbershop/ developing a slate of film, television and contem- bathhouse. In 1998, Gonick made Waiting for Twi­ porary art projects. In 2007, he was elected into Noam Gonick is one of the most prominent young light, a documentary, narrated by Tom Waits, about the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and is the filmmakers in Canada. He weaves narrative tapes- the life and work of , following him as youngest living member. tries with uncommon thread, from apocalyptic raves he directs the film Twilight Of The Ice Nymphs.

6 FEATURE FILMS Barbara James by Winston Washington Moxam 2001 | 80:00 | drama Saturday NOV 29 7:00pm

Barbara James is a thirty-something, single, best friend, no money, no career, no place of women and minorities. After moving to Toronto, hip and opinionated pregnant Black woman. her own and a ghost who haunts her, she must where he worked for the CBC, he wrote, direct- Her life takes an eventful twist of fate when, decide whether or not to keep her child. Bar- ed and produced his first documentary, From the on one particularly ordinary day, she wakes bara James represents and explores the tran- Other Side (1991), which looked at minority street up and realizes that her unborn baby has sitions all of us must go through in our lives — people in Toronto. In 1992, Winston returned to stopped moving. On this particular day, Bar- always wondering where to go next and what Winnipeg. As director, writer, producer and editor, bara James decides she must sort out her to do when we get there. he has made several short films and videos, includ- past, present and future. She must come to ing The Barbecue, Fall, Suntan 2020, Cecil Brown grips with 30 years of mistakes, miscalcula- Winston Washington Moxam, born in England (a music video), The Welfare King, The Woman in tions and misinterpretations, all bound up in and raised in Manitoba, attended the film produc- Black, The Pendulum and Sand. He is currently in a reality she has never faced before. Dealing tion program at Confederation College in Thunder post-production on Billy, his second feature length with a judgmental mother, an irresponsible Bay, Ontario, where he explored his interest in film.Barbara James is his first feature. father who abandons her, an overly protective the injustices and discrimination experienced by

FEATURE 7 FILMS Downtime by Greg Hanec 1985 | 62:00 | drama Saturday NOV 29 9:00pm

Downtime is a subtle, gentle and witty film Greg Hanec began making films in 1980 with his hit billboards, moving trains, buildings, snow, sta- about four young adults who exist in their short 3 Minutes Before 8. He followed this up with dium score boards, and anything else white to dis- environment like smudges, disappearing into a few more short films and then in 1985 completed seminate “temporary graffiti”. Greg’s most recent the compositional pattern of line and angle as his first feature Downtime, which screened at the short film Fast, Slow, Single was created for the though camouflaged. We are witness to their 1986 Berlin Film Festival. In 1988 he followed up Cinematheque’s 25th anniversary in 2008. He is aimless and pointless lives which include awk- with his second feature Tunes A Plenty, about a currently working on numerous projects including ward attempts at relationships, and struggles group of musicians who spend their time doing the second phase of the Guerrilla Projections to with the monotony of day to day life. Although music, their way. Between 1993-1997, Greg worked premiere in the summer of 2009, and his third fea- Downtime has been described as “possibly on various collaborations, and ture filmThink At Night. the darkest vision of humanity ever evoked”, between 1997 and 2001 he worked with Campbell its complex humor and compassion make it Martin and conducted a series of Guerrilla Pro­ an enjoyable journey and a hidden gem in Can­ jections using one or two 16 mm projectors, and adian Cinema. armed with over one thousand assorted film loops

8 FEATURE FILMS the Nature of Nicholas by Jeff Erbach 2003 | 98:00 | surreal fable Saturday NOV 29 11:00pm

“A wealth of haunting images . . . an honest, and ested in befriending the girls at school. To add Jeff Erbach is an independent filmmaker whose often moving, personal film.” — The Globe and Mail to Nicholas’ problems, his deceased father filmography includes seven short films, a variety of starts appearing to him in pursuit of a mys- television commercials and music videos, and the “Unclassifiable . . . an atmosphere on the cusp be­ terious agenda. Uncertain and afraid of los- feature length film,the Nature of Nicholas. His films tween daydream and nightmare” — Variety ing his best friend, Nicholas summons up his have played at venues all over the world, garnering courage to take a bold step – and his actions him a retrospective at the Canadian Film Institute A surreal tale set on the Canadian Prairie, the unleash a very strange monster. in Ottawa. He is currently the Faculty Director of Nature of Nicholas is the tale of a young boy the Acting for Film and Television Program at the wrestling with an attraction to his best friend Featuring nuanced performances from its Academy of Acting in Winnipeg. while tormented by visions of his dead father. young actors the Nature of Nicholas is an eerie and haunting coming-of-age story about the Confused about his sexual identity, twelve- tumult of budding sexuality and a boy’s strug- year-old Nicholas is battling with his intense gle to reconcile his desire with what’s expect- attraction to Bobby, who seems more inter- ed of him.

FEATURE 9 FILMS Crime Wave by John Paizs 1986 | 80:00 | comedy Sunday NOV 30 9:00pm

A young director intent on making “the great- Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University feature-length comedy Crime Wave (1986), hailed est color crime movie ever” can’t seem to of Manitoba in 1980, Paizs decided to try his hand as the funniest Canadian movie ever made. Over finish his script — he has a beginning and an at live-action filmmaking. Equipped with a second- the years Paizs has continued to work on numerous end, but he can’t quite figure out the middle. hand Bolex camera, he embarked on a series of television and film projects including helming the The daughter of his landlord, excited to have ultra low-budget comedies, which, in the mid ‘80s, 1999 festival smash Top of the Food Chain, and the a real “movie person” living over their garage, would earn him the reputation as Canada’s lead- 2005 made-for-TV horror-fantasy Marker as well as tries to help by putting him in touch with a ing independent filmmaker. He wrote, produced, directing various episodes of The Kids in the Hall. man who wants to collaborate on a script — directed and starred in these six outstandingly the strange “Dr. Jolly.” imaginative short and feature length films. Taken John’s independent films have been presented at together they remain today one of the most impres- such prestigious venues as the Museum of Modern John Paizs, once called “the most influential Can­ sive and influential bodies of independent film work Art in New York City, and the Centre George Pom- adian director you’ve never heard of”, was born and produced in Canada. pidou in Paris, France. In 2000, he was made the raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba and began making Director in Residence at the prestigious Canadian films at an early age. He received a special cita- Of these six films, two in particular stand tall: the Film Centre in Toronto. He remains vigorously en- tion from The British Film Institute in 1978 for one suburban satire Springtime in Greenland (1981), gaged there today, mentoring Canada’s brightest of his early and after graduating with a cited as Canada’s first postmodern film; and the filmmaking lights of tomorrow.

10 FEATURE FILMS “We had to start with nothing. There was a lot of struggle. People had to get to Experimental Echoes know one another, we were all very individualistic.” Manitoba Experimental and Animated Shorts This was Leon Johnson’s description of the local moviemaking climate in the early curated by Jenny Bisch 1970s immediately following the establishment of the Winnipeg Film Group. It is hard to imagine a time when film and video artists in Manitoba worked without the Thursday NOV 27 backing of a local cooperative or training program, but like all communities they 9:00pm had to start somewhere. Communities must work through the questions, “Who Okeedoke by Leon Johnson | 1973 | 3:00 are we?” and “Who else is out there?” when trying to chisel away at an identity. The best way to respond to these queries is simply to do, to act, to make, and Boarding House by Neil McInnes & Ken Stampnick | 1974 | 8:00 to assist your peers. Communities retain their longevity not when everyone Pompidoleum by Ryan Takatsu | 1978 | 6:30 becomes the same, but when its members value one another’s distinct visions. The Chair by Alex Poruchnyk | 1979 | 1:30 Daydream by Alan Pakarnyk | 1980 | 1:30 An arts community is an experiment. Fitting, because in the world of inde- 5 Cents a Copy by Ed Ackerman & Greg Zbitnew | 1980 | 5:00 pendent film and video, most work is an experiment. Moments of surprise Routines by M.B. Duggan | 1985 | 2:00 pervade every frame, every shape, every line delivered. All movies are a Six by Wendy Geller | 1986 | 4:00 culmination of disparate elements in colour, character, and composition Hey Kids by Alethea Lahofer | 1990 | 2:00 that are then delivered to an unknown audience for an unforeseeable evalu- Object / Subject of Desire by Shawna Dempsey & Lorri Millan | 1993 | 5:00 ation. You can sometimes identify the director in the audience, writhing in Dog on the Moon by Murray Toews | 1992 | 2:30 discomfort, not knowing exactly what she or he has made until an audi- Backwash by Daniel Barrow | 1995 | 4:00 ence breathes new life into their work. Sleep by Brenna George | 1995 | 3:00 However, some movies invite surprise and serendipity to play important Odilon Redon by Guy Maddin | 1995 | 4:00 roles, not just cameo appearances. Their unintended nuances are per- Visages? by Alain Delannoy | 1996 | 4:00 fect because they satisfy our desire for something as real as the images Doc1.doc by Solomon Nagler | 1999 | 5:00 that live in our dreams. It has been the rule, not the exception, for movie­ Arm Wrestling Bear Movie by Deco Dawson | 2001 | 4:30 makers in this province to do just this, bolting from the mainstream to Tumor by Evan Tapper | 2001 | 3:00 test the edges of the medium. Manitoba moviemakers seem to enjoy the A Bit Transcendental by Patrick Lowe | 2001 | 5:00 unsettling moment in the theatre that precedes an audience’s reaction.

SHORT 1 1 FILMS I have never seen a movie made here that begs for my acceptance of it — a sentiment I find hard not to reward, even when the movie doesn’t agree with me. They always invite me in to a strange, intimate world of the filmmaker’s own making or broaden my view of the places we hold familiar. Made with the backing of a community, but always ex- pressing a unique voice, countless movies have been made here, inde- pendently and through experimentation. From those individualistic drives that caused conflict in the beginning, local moviemakers have learned how to collaborate and mentor without shedding their individuality, as evidenced by the large body of work they have produced. Most movies cannot be made without making relationships in the process.

from the film: pompidoleum Like echoes bouncing off walls, ricocheting in every direction, this collec- tion of films reflects a history in which local moviemakers have made their The 1970s gave birth to cooperative filmmaking at the Winnipeg Film Group work public, influenced their peers, and have called out to audiences all in response to the challenges facing Canadian independent filmmakers. Leon over the world. Of the artists featured (and there are so many more that I Johnson’s Okeedoke (1973) begins the program with an example of his work wanted to include), selections from their bodies of work intend to exemplify in the primordial years of experimental film preceding the formation of the the momentary coming together in collaborative process from which a num- Winnipeg Film Group. This psychedelic pink and green rhythmic portrait ber of personal trajectories arise. Some stayed, some left, some mentored, of Johnson’s former brother-in-law hearkens back to the work of Norman some moved laterally in related fields. Each piece contributes to a landscape McLaren’s abstractions set to music. In 1974, animators Neil McInnes and of isolated moments where movies were made through mentorship and mutual Ken Stampnick created Boarding House with a grant that Neil received support, ultimately creating what we might dare call a community. This is not through the University of Manitoba Student’s Union. This film constructs a community that maintains itself solely through physical proximity. Rather, a home for the surreal, as only can, and follows a man on a it is one that is always drawing from the dreams, desires, and loneliness that bizarre scavenger hunt. Later in the decade, works being made by local pervade our culture and calls out just to see who will respond. For this reason, video artists emerged, foreshadowing the establishment of Video Pool. the products of Manitoba moviemakers’ labours are often described as “subter- Ryan Takatsu’s Pompidoleum (1978) strips and constructs the then new ranean,” “dreamlike,” “surreal,” and “haunting.” It can be lonely out in the cold, Centre Pompidou — a meeting place for all modern art forms. This is an with only dreams to keep you company so many days. Strange that a community early video (and supplement to his architectural thesis) exemplifying with such endurance could be built on so simple a question: “Who is out there?” the spirit of interdisciplinarity that would later characterize the works

12 SHORT FILMS of other film and video artists. Long-time guru of visual and concep- decade entered the film and video community from the world of performance art tual experimentation, Alex Poruchnyk, ends the decade with The Chair or via the University of Manitoba’s School of Art. Performance artist and for- (1979). He asks the audience, “Who will act? Who will set you free? mer Video Pool distribution coordinator, Alethea Lahofer, produced a number of Who will take responsibility for your actions?” — apt questions not only works in this period, including Hey Kids (1990) — a barrage of ad-inspired images, within the context of his work, but also for a community of moviemakers juxtaposed with skeleton dancers. Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan garnered in its formative years. much attention with their brand of sexual satire and cultural commentary through pieces like Object / Subject of Desire (1993). Murray Toews’ Dog on the Moon The Winnipeg Film Group came of age in the 1980s, when it began to (1992) features Vav Jungle’s Eve Rice in a deliciously lo-fi, cyclically animated receive increased recognition on the festival circuit and many of its mem­ music video about a search for a lost dog through a dream landscape. Daniel bers delved into the challenging enterprise of feature film. However, short Barrow’s Backwash (1995) shows his early work in experimental animation format films continued to be made, with a penchant for experimentation. through this quiet ritual of sexual coveting. In Sleep (1995), Brenna George in- A product of the University of Manitoba’s Fine Arts program and later an vites the voyeur into an interior sensation of languor. Guy Maddin, whose film- animator at the NFB, Alan Pakarnyk caught the attention of many festivals ic dreamscapes turned all eyes toward Winnipeg in the 1980s, made Odilon with his ethereal film, Daydream (1980). Also from 1980 came Ed Acker- Redon (1995) through a BBC commission and the inspiration of Redon’s man and Greg Zbitnew’s pulsating animation, 5 Cents a Copy — a filmmak- painting, The Eye Like a Strange Balloon Mounts Toward Infinity. Alain Delan- ing experiment involving the Winnipeg Film Group’s newly acquired photo- noy’s animated Visages? (1996) explores the spiritual act of rejuvenation copier. M.B. Duggan’s poetry-films were made during this decade, including through bathing. A work of hand-processed prairie surrealism, Sol Nagler’s Routines (1985), which illustrates a morning ritual in eccentric imagery and Doc1.doc (1999) stretches the idea that “the gods don’t know how to cook” recitations. Video Pool’s formation in 1983 gave rise to an expanding body of over the framework of Greek tragedy. work from video artists, with a strong female presence through the Women Artists in Video collective that was formed two years later. Wendy Geller’s Three selections from 2001 show influences from the past three decades satirical, sexually polit­ical work began in this decade, but was cut short in 1996 in local film and video. Arm Wrestling Bear Movie, by Deco Dawson, with her untimely death. In Six (1986), Geller reenacts six performances of “B” is a collaboration with the Royal Art Lodge that captures one bear’s movie characters with split personalities, eliminating the grander composition bravado and humbling demise through the format of black and white of the original scene and drawing attention to the characters’ emotional tangles nostalgia that has become a signature of Winnipeg filmmaking. Evan in her irreverent style. Tapper’s Tumor incorporates past methods of hand drawn and computer- animated cinema, using technology of the day in this story about dis- A flood of new film and video artists emerged on the Manitoba scene in the 1990s, placing fear and facing loss. The program closes with a later work from to widespread acclaim and with increased distribution. Many new artists in this long-time local animator, Patrick Lowe. His film,A Bit Transcendental,

SHORT 1 3 FILMS which follows two friends on a bumbling trip into the layers of con- sciousness, pays homage to vintage NFB animation through parody. Because There Are Stories Because this program gives a historical glimpse at the vast repertoire in Manitoba’s experimental and animated cinematic past, I have organized Yet To Tell these movies in chronological order to give the audience a sense of Manitoba Aboriginal Shorts visual language over time. By viewing the works in this collection in the curated by Jenny Western order of their creation, the viewer can witness change and resurgence in filmic styles, the influence of local culture, science, and politics, and Friday NOV 28 the communities that have emerged from the process of making films and 7:00pm videos. This is what history is made of — the culmination of our motiva- OK, Now What? by Jeffrey Bruyere | 2008 | 1:30 tions, decisions, and relationships to construct who we are in the present. Happiness by Johnson Apetagon | 2007 | 7:00 Throw into the world images from your ideas, your dreams, your desires and they come back to you embellished with the attributes of people and the My Indian Bum by Kerry Barber | 2007 | 4:45 places that surround you. Through creative experimentation, film and video Home by Colleen Simard | 2000 | 2:45 makers in Manitoba have formed a collective, local voice that traces out a Vermis by Amanda Smart | 2007 | 6:00 sense of place. Like echoes that keep on returning. 2510037901 by Steve Loft | 2000 | 3:00 Morning Radio by Vanessa Loewen | 2006 | 6:00 Jenny Bisch is a Winnipeg filmmaker and curator. Her irreverent first film,The Journey My Heart by Reil Munro 2007 | 8:30 Arousing Adventures of Sailor Boy, was released to great acclaim. Created Living Tree by Zachery Longboy | 1993 | 0:30 in the WFG’s 2002 hand processing workshop, it has been screened inter­ Stone Show by Zachery Longboy | 1999 | 9:00 nationally in New York, the Netherlands, and the prestigious Ann Arbor Film 504938C by Ervin Chartrand | 2005 | 6:00 Festival. She recently released an animated short, Praying Mantis Upskirt, with Ming So by Darryl Nepinak | 2005 | 3:00 Allison Bile. Her curatorial involvement in the 2006 Sugar and Splice Feminist Zwei Indianer Aus Winnipeg by Darryl Nepinak | 2008 | 2:45 Film Festival led to a strong interest in seeking out and presenting the work of contemporary women filmmakers. Her academic work in anthropology has also inspired a passion for cultural history in Manitoba. When successful, the cinematic experience provides an opportunity to tell a story that has never been told before. Here in Manitoba we

14 SHORT FILMS meanings behind the inference of “Manitoba Aboriginal Filmmaker” as a singularly defined entity.

For several of these filmmakers, the stories they evoke begin with a sense of environment as many of the films situate themselves within a local landscape. Winnipeg’s downtown area is easily recognizable in Jeffrey Bruyere’s OK, Now What?, Johnson Apetagon’s Happiness, Colleen Simard’s Home, and Amanda Smart’s Vermis. While Bruyere and Smart examine the perils of a city life edged with darkness and wit, Apetagon and Simard contemplate the dichotomy of Aboriginal life lived in an urban/rural divide. As the synopsis of Home states, “[The film] deals with the conflicting worlds of Aboriginal people. . . which from the film: journey my heart is better? Rural or Urban? There is no better, of course, only the chance to are geographically situated as a cultural meeting site and have been so for change the future.” Reil Munro’s short documentary Journey My Heart also thousands of years. This unique environment has allowed for encounters touches on a sense cultural duality as viewers begin to slowly comprehend between a variety of people and the formation of many exceptional tales. For that the woman jogging through snowy Winnipeg streets is in fact training for the past 25 years Cinematheque has been a resource for many Manitobans competitive pow wow jingle dress dancing. Perceived as binaries, tradition- to share their stories in the face of a corporate film industry situated far away al and contemporary are in fact one complete reality in Journey My Heart, from this place, its history, and inhabitants. just as the meeting of urban and rural is a reality in Simmard’s Home.

In commemoration of the Cinematheque’s 25th anniversary, the Winnipeg Film The medium of cinema is employed by other Manitoba Aboriginal film- Group has organized four shorts programs to highlight the work of Manitoban makers to investigate the convergence of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal filmmakers within designated categories including narrative, documentary, cultures. Steve Loft’s 2510037901 reflects on Loft’s own Aboriginal and experimental / animation, and Aboriginal. While the first three classifications Jewish backgrounds as his Indian status card number is tattooed onto his indicate film genres, the inclusion of the latter is perhaps less decipherable. body. In Zwei Indianer Aus Winnipeg Darryl Nepinak uses Manitoba as Since a falsified notion of Aboriginal identity has long been perpetuated by the backdrop for a cinematic interpretation of a late mid-century Ger- Holly­wood movies, what better place than in Manitoba to celebrate the work man pop song whose title translates as “Two Indians From Winnipeg.” of local Aboriginal filmmakers who are undoing these stereotypes through the With a nod to the modern European interest in the supposed romanti- medium of film? Encompassing narrative, documentary, and experimental genres, cism of North American Aboriginal culture, Nepinak playfully subverts these films present a range of cinematic styles and speak to the multiplicity of the theme and makes it his own. Kerry Barber, (Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in)

SHORT 1 5 FILMS Yukon-born but currently studying film in Winnipeg, addresses the Ming So, like so much of the work by Manitoba’s Aboriginal filmmakers, depicts shared physical characteristic of “bannock bum” with good-natured cinema that is engaging, funny, fresh, intelligent, bold, and original. With the humour in her short documentary My Indian Bum, asking various people existence of festivals like the Winnipeg Aboriginal Film Festival and the Toronto- to discuss the condition in contrast with bums of different races. based imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival as well as alternative theatres like Cinematheque, audiences are grasping that Aboriginal stories are far more Other Manitoba Aboriginal filmmakers choose to recount stories that diverse than what has been presented in those seemingly classic Hollywood expose the reality of life in our province, often deflating widely held mis- oaters. Building on the work of veterans like Zachery Longboy, young film­ conceptions in the process. In Morning Radio Vanessa Loewen subtly makers are creating new films with exciting possibilities, yet there is always illustrates one family’s internal issues through the interactions between its the need for more films and more stories. It is my hope that this program of two teenaged daughters and the man who has been hired to drive them films will encourage audiences and filmmakers to continue in the tradition of to school. Ervin Chartrand’s 504938C tells of a man’s troubled past and using this land as a place of meeting and exchange because there are far more subsequent rebirth after a period of incarceration. Living Tree by Zachery stories yet to tell. Longboy is a short piece created to raise HIV and AIDS awareness in the 1990s, while his longer running Stone Show dances between documentary, Jenny Western holds an undergraduate degree in History from the Univer­ experimental, and narrative. sity of Winnipeg and a Masters in Art History and Curatorial Practice from York University in Toronto. While completing her graduate studies, she was Darryl Nepinak’s experimental short Ming So also blends together many offered a position at the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba where she issues and ideas surrounding Aboriginality and film. Backed by the sound worked as the Curator of Contemporary / Aboriginal Art for nearly two years. of a women’s drum group, this film depicts six silent spirits hanging out in a Jenny has served as an independent curator for the Label Gallery, a venue downtown Winnipeg alley. Names like Wisdom Keeper and Women of the for the emerging artist in Winnipeg, and as a curatorial assistant at the Heart (as well as Kaigee Beetumup and Sum Ting Wong) would likely have Winnipeg Art Gallery. In 2006 Jenny received a Fine Arts Award from the placed these characters on a windswept plateau somewhere in the imagination National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation to complete her research on of mainstream cinema. Instead Nepinak has his characters in jeans and t-shirts, contemporary art and cultural hybridity in Canada. She currently serves playing cards and posing for group photos. Interspersed with these scenes are as the Art Collections Coordinator at the University of Manitoba and as flashes of promotional jargon normally reserved for movie trailers. However the Adjunct Curator for the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba. Ming So uses endorsements such as “Outstanding, astonishing!” attributed to the Washington Redskins and “Brilliant, excellent!” exclaimed by the Cleveland Indians. With the elimination of a few letters, the film’s title even becomes an ex- oticized subversion of the enticing Hollywood movie slogan “Coming Soon.”

16 SHORT FILMS Searching Landscapes Manitoba Narrative Shorts curated by Kevin Nikkel Saturday NOV 29 4:30pm How Much Land Does a Man Need? by Allan Kroeker | 1978 | 10:00 Two Men in Search of a Plot by Howard Curle & John Kozak | 1985 | 6:00 Motus Maestro by Carole O’Brien | 1996 | 18:00 Without Rockets by Gary Yates | 1994 | 12:00 Wildlands by Bevan Klassen | 2003 | 12:00 The Heart of the World by Guy Maddin | 2000 | 6:00 from the film: Motus maestro films. The shorts I’ve selected seem comfortable in a conversation on place, identity and a main element of dramatic films, the struggle. It was not an easy task to select dramatic films out of the many shorts that have emerged from Manitoba over the years, most of which have found a The context for all this is the Canadian prairie, and more specifically, the home through Dave Barber’s expert and generous programming. Though fly-over city of Winnipeg. It would seem an unlikely place for such prolific filmmakers in Winnipeg have been making shorts before the Winnipeg Film and creative cinema to emerge. Our relentless climate and remote location Group’s Cinematheque began operating, few filmmakers emerging from this compared to other urban centres contributes to the content we produce. prairie city would disagree that the Cinematheque makes the struggle to take One aspect of Winnipeg reflected in the films made by people from here up the craft of filmmaking easier. is the struggle and restlessness of being from here. Stay for one winter in Winnipeg and you know. Bevan Klassen’s film Wildlands is a great The six short films I have selected for this anniversary program are films I have modern telling of the frontier adventure story. A frustrated father aban- enjoyed over the years that I think are worth watching together. I think these dons life in Winnipeg to take his family out to search the remote wilder- films each have an individual charm, but together they say something collectively ness of Manitoba to start life again, free of all the problems of modern about the intersection of our Cinematheque, of our city, and of the art of dramatic urban living. The idealism of the father meets with the harshness of

SHORT 1 7 FILMS the elements, forcing him to compromise and return home humbled of a rocket base in the rugged and isolated north is shutdown. As the title sug- to life back in Winnipeg. The film plays as a postmodern lament and gests, the main character is left to figure out how to cope with budget cutbacks (a longing for something else; maybe that something else is not possible. regrettable circumstance that more and more artists and arts organizations seem to be facing recently with the current political climate, and government decisions Allan Kroeker extends this theme of the search for land in his adapta- to slash funding to essential arts programs). What sort of life and identity is left tion of Tolstoy’s short parable How Much Land Does a Man Need? for him after he loses his best friend, and pet, Booster? The strength of Yates’s A businessman tries to take advantage of an opportunity to acquire land early short film certainly paved the way for his later feature films. at a cheap price, as much as he can survey before sundown. The film shows off the prairie & Interlake landscape as the man tries to greedily Identity is also explored by Carole O’Brien in the emotional restlessness of take more and more land. her protagonist in Motus Maestro. The main character is a young composer struggling to make great music. He takes drastic action to silence the over- A lighter take on this odd quest for place is Howard Curle and John Kozak’s whelming pressures and distracting sounds of life around him. O’Brien’s film short film Two Men in Search of a Plot? In this dark comedy, the search is a great example of Manitoba cinematic storytelling; her short illustrates for land is focused; where can our protagonists find a place to bury a dead the exciting potential of the medium through striking visuals and a powerful body. Things get more complicated as the story unfolds, and the main char- soundtrack. acters begin to need more and more land for more and more bodies. This short is a fine example of the classic craft of comedic timing.

There have been many changes in the landscape of cinema venues over the years, demanding Cinematheque to evolve to meet these changes. I am grateful that the Cinematheque has survived, and thrived over the years. The Cinematheque was essential in my development as a filmmaker and as a film enthusiast. The screening of foreign, classic and independent films gave me exposure to films and filmmakers that shaped my identity, contributing to my development as a filmmaker. It contributed to the realization that I can do this, and that I need to make films. Where would I be without Cinematheque?

Where would I be without my pet pig? This is the question posed by Gary Yates’s offbeat comedy short Without Rockets. What sort of life is there for the custodian from the film: THE heart of the world

18 SHORT FILMS The anniversary of the Cinematheque and this program is a tribute to the way in which Dave Barber, and the staff of the Winnipeg Film Group and Cinematheque have overcome the many difficulties over Home Cooked Reels the years to allow it to survive. These short films are examples of good Manitoba Documentary Shorts dramatic character based storytelling; that of characters struggling to curated by Mike Maryniuk overcome obstacles. The main characters of Without Rockets and Wild­ lands are facing the elements. In How Much Land Does a Man Need? Sunday NOV 30 and Motus Maestro the struggle is an internal conflict. In Guy Maddin’s 4:30pm film The Heart of the World the struggle is epic. The frantically paced Waitress by Shawn Dempsey | 1993 | 7:00 short is the human struggle compressed into a classic romantic con- The Amazing Creation of Al Simmons by Sheldon Oberman | 1986 | 10:00 flict and expanded to encompass a struggle to save the planet. Maddin’s Havakeen Lunch by Elise Swerhone | 1979 | 28:00 female protagonist sacrifices herself to save the world. What better way The Price of Daily Bread by John Paskievich & Mike Mirus | 1985 | 16:00 to celebrate Manitoba cinema and the legacy of our Cinematheque than through Guy Maddin’s eclectic masterwork that brings us back to the early Slapleather by Maureen Smith & Kris Anderson | 1995 | 5:00 days of cinema. Le Metif Enragé by Leon Johnson | 1984 | 17:00

The Winnipeg Film Group’s Cinematheque has made it 25 years, an achieve- ment worth celebrating. Here is hoping filmmakers and film enthusiasts have This program was selected in the spirit of the first Canadian filmmaker 25 more years to enjoy great movies at the Cinematheque. Maybe it offers (1897), James Freer, a farmer and documentary filmmaker originally from us more than just a place to go on cold winter nights; perhaps it helps us the Brandon area. His early filmstrips focused on rural farming life, with such understand this place called Winnipeg on the Canadian prairie. If the tradition titles as Harnessing The Virgin Prairie, and the series 10 Years In Manitoba continues, filmmakers will emerge from the Cinematheque inspired to continue in which he captured moving images of trains arriving in Winnipeg. creating great dramatic films. His films were so popular that the Canadian Pacific Railway sent James Kevin Nikkel is a filmmaker from Winnipeg. His films include narrative drama, and his filmstrips to Europe on two occasions to encourage emigra- animation and documentary. He juggles his time between filmmaking, parenting, tion to the prairies. The first trip was successful, but on the second and teaching part time. he was accused of conveniently not mentioning the mosquitoes and the World Famous winters. He returned to Manitoba and relocated to the town of Ericksdale.

SHORT 1 9 FILMS Havakeen Lunch by Elise Swerhone was filmed at the Country Café must go.” Created with thousands of black and white photographs and live record- of the same name, unbelievably in Ericksdale, Manitoba, the home of ings of conversations amongst the bidding and bargains to be had, it becomes James Freer. With Havakeen Lunch we witness the last day of work for obvious that the lack of a large camera allows the subjects to relax and have a retiring couple at their small town restaurant. The viewers are served real, frank conversations about the state of farming, and to express true emotion. a home cooked slice of small town life, with a generous side of “things The film is political yet never comes across as preachy or one-sided. It’s classic aren’t the same as they used to be”. The pacing of this film matches the Paskievich patience; he just lets things happen in front of him. subject matter perfectly and is a perfect portrait of day-to-day rural living. This film boasts a first of its own: the first independent film finished at the At the height of the line dancing cultural revolution, Maureen Smith and Kris An- Winnipeg Film Group and the first Manitoba film with an all female crew. derson walked into the Palomino Club with camera in hand and Ken Gregory with recording device not far behind. Slapleather is a buffet of bolo ties, loud topaz Shawna Dempsey’s short documentary Waitress features interviews with western wear and a whole lot of Achy Breakin’ Boot Scootin’ Boogyin’. Kris waitresses from such Winnipeg institutions as “Harman’s” and the “Wind- Anderson later went on to found DOXA in Vancouver — a film and video festival mill”. The waitresses talk about the realities of minimum wage and the ec- dedicated to the art of the documentary — and is currently the festival director. centric clientele. Shawna Dempsey, along with Lorri Millan, are a couple of Winnipeg’s most important artists. Not afraid to be at once: political, hilari- ous and thoughtful, whether it’s film, video, installation or performance art.

The Amazing Creation of Al Simmons features a look at the wacky world of another of Manitoba’s finest performance artists, Al Simmons. Al is on a quest to convert a bike into some sort of “horsecycle”. With his trusty sidekick-son Karl at his side, Al takes us along for the ride down the dusty trails of creativity. Sheldon Oberman couldn’t have found a more interesting subject; Al Simmons has the wide-eyed ambition of a six-year old inventor. His imagination is unpar- alleled and it’s easy to see why he is a favourite of young and old alike. Al’s heart and sense of humour are as big as his ten-gallon hat.

The Price of Daily Bread was made in 1985 by John Paskievich and Mike Mirus. In Hodgson, Manitoba a family fights to save the farm from foreclosure. They even- tually have no choice but to auction off all of their farming equipment. “Everything from the film: waitress

20 SHORT FILMS Due to time restrictions, some other important short independent documentaries could not be included, but also merit being mentioned. Main Street Soldier by Leonard Yakir, showed the need for a filmmaking co-op in Winnipeg.The Strongest Man In The World by Halya Kuchmij and narrated by Jack Palance won several awards; It profiles an amazing man from Olha, Manitoba who was able to bend steel bars and hypnotize people, and was dubbed “the Strongest Man in the World” after joining the Ringling Brothers Circus. The truly amazing Dog Stories by Shereen Jerrett is no doubt the most entertaining WFG film of all time. “Dancy, Dancy. . .” And lastly, Rhinos Rule by Cathy Collins and Michael Olito is a hilarious look at politics; Michael builds a log helicopter as a cheaper alter­ native to the Conservative choppers. from the film: the price of daily bread

In Leon Johnson’s Le Metif Enragé, the line dancing turns to jigging at a fid- Recently there has been a resurgence of diverse, independent documentaries dle competition during Le Festival du Voyageur. Local poet/fiddler George in Winnipeg, from the wildly political in the tar sands of Alberta, to day-to-day Morrisette is ripe with rebellion and treats the “Festival” crowd to his polit­ living in Afghanistan, and of prominent Winnipeg institutions. I’m sure these ical poetry in the middle of his fiddling. The crowd quickly turns on him and young filmmakers will make James Freer and L’Abee Leon Rivard proud. proves his political point. Leon Johnson is, by far, one of the most important film­makers in Winnipeg’s history, as one of the founders of the Winnipeg Film Mike Maryniuk was born in Winnipeg, but raised in the rural back country Group and a filmmaker who took chances before the rise of the “experimental- of Manitoba. A completely self-taught film virtuoso, Maryniuk’s film world is ists”. He can also be credited in part with the current film industry and should an inventive hybrid of Jim Henson, Norman McLaren and Stan Brakhage. receive one of those tax credits that those “offshore” producers receive. Le Metif Maryniuk’s films are a visual stew of hand-made ingredients and are full Enragé features some of the finest documentary cinematography in recent mem- of home cooked wonderfulness. ory. Instead of staying out of the way to capture images, Director of Photography Charles Lavack chooses to get right in amongst the fiddlers, dancers and crowd members. This truly elevates the film to a full out experience. Charles Lavack is now the co-founder of “Les Production Rivard” named in honour of L’Abee Leon Rivard, a priest and the first “true” Manitoban filmmaker who made films during the 1930’s until his death in the 1960’s in the small town of Ile des Chênes, south of Winnipeg. He used his parishioners as actors and even constructed his own lenses.

SHORT 2 1 FILMS it gently roll as everyone acts so normal in front of you. So normal. Nice folks, really. But then, something happens, something you weren’t expecting as you The Illusion of Normalcy: carefully threaded the magazine with film. Every now and then you get a glimpse beyond this white room of normalcy, and you see something furtive, creepy, Escaping the 80s bizarre. And then it vanishes, and you are left feeling slightly — what? Embar- DVD Release and Screening rassed? Disconcerted? Asking the people next to you, did you just see what I just saw? Sunday NOV 30 7:00pm You aren’t expecting this: this is boring old Winterpig, the place nobody wants to visit. And yet, the normalcy all around you is itself an oddity. It alone should Primiti Too Taa by Colin Morton & Ed Ackerman | 1986 | 3:00 alert you to be careful with your snap judgments and perhaps, to look a little Dog Stories by Shereen Jerrett | 1991 | 24:00 closer. Actually, it’s the conviction that “nothing is happening here” that is the Joe 90 by Russ Dyck | 1991 | 12:00 real illusion: that thought is like a pane of double sided glass that won’t reveal Dory by John Kozak | 1990 | 48:00 anything until you stand really, really, close to it, cup your hands around your eyes, and look steadily into the darkness; sometimes what you see is merely your reflection, but then sometimes, what you see suddenly becomes a Illusion of Normalcy whole other room. Trying to catch glimpses of that other room is a bit addic- by Shereen Jerrett, guest speaker tive. The urge to try and nail down what you saw is what makes filmmaking films selected by Guy Maddin in Winnipeg so much fun.

“Winnipeg,” my Montreal-based DOP sneered,“ a What I have always found surprising is that this — pressing up against the nation of K-Mart dressers.” He had a point. Take a double-paned glass of the apparently everyday normal — isn’t what film- walk around the malls, drive around the neighbour- makers in other cities are doing. This is a Winnipeg thing. So, normal. hoods, and tell me what you see. Everyone looks so . . . so . . . normal. When I set out to make Dog Stories, I kept saying one thing: just tell me a story about a dog. I wanted sad stories, happy stories, heart-warming It’s easy to be invisible here. Hiding behind your gas stories. I ran an ad in the pet column of the local paper: call this num- barbeque on your freshly made pine deck, quietly eating your kielbasa and cubed ber with your dog story. I got surprisingly few lunatics calling, and lots cheese at a wedding social. Easy as well to hide behind your camera, just letting of nice, earnest people, full of stories about their wonderful pet dogs.

22 DVD RELEASE So, I really wasn’t expecting much. The day we shot Sonny the lucky for the gothically deranged Dory. Maybe it is better to say it was a little bit of the poodle was the day the crew started to think the drugs were starting abyss looking back. to kick in. I kept saying, how can just asking people to tell me a story about a dog get so emotionally complicated? The always iconoclastic Ed Ackerman called it his typewriter film, an animation called Primiti Too Taa. Simple, really, just words, typed on a page. I worked as Around this time I met Russ Dyck. I always remember trying to talk to a projectionist at the Cinematheque at the time, and I saw the film repeatedly. him about this film he wanted to make, Joe 90. He wasn’t making a lot of It seems to have lodged into some primiti part of my brain, and sometimes, sense. He kept saying that the lead character would always be adjusting with pre-conscious clarity, I realize my whole world really is spiraling into a his neck, and it would make the sound of a hockey puck sliding in a shoe- single “bo.” And at that point I also find that the only answer for nnz kkr muu? box. Sssssssshhhhhh-thud. He would add something about a car. And a is pggiv mu. bar in the middle of a gold and blue nowhere. And maybe some pixilation. Lots of sound effects. It was as if every odd thing he had ever heard, walk- We were so normal, shooting those films, and we still are. And we are still ing around on the family acreage, was about to come home to roost in this out there. As you read this we will still be carefully threading film into our film. I wasn’t expecting it to look so good, or that Joe would be this oddly cameras, in search of that other room, outside this illusion of normalcy. compelling character, and his strange ramblings somehow familiar. I still Sometimes we get something, sometimes we don’t. Sometimes when you walk into remote country diners expecting to see Joe, inert in a naugahyde look into that dark room, the room looks back. Good thing there is glass booth, and as I eat my grilled from frozen fries, I hear the ssssssshhhhh-thud between us… or is there? John and I had a running bet for many years about of his neck adjusting. which member of the WFG was going to climb to the top of the Artspace building and start taking potshots. Sometimes we put the money on our- When John Kozak made Dory, I remember the crew talking about it. It sound- selves. Filmmaking is like that. ed easy enough to shoot, they were out in the middle of nowhere, in a blacked out house, during a heat wave. Everybody talked about the heat, nobody men- Juu — Kaaaaaa? tioned a thing about the murder. But its effects could be felt: John tells this lurid story from the shoot, on the night of a 3 a.m. drive back to town, the van headlights slicing through the two edges of darkness. As they drove, they ran into a flock of night-maddened birds, hundreds of frantically flapping small dark bodies in a grainy cloud crashing into the van — we must have killed hundreds, said John, we didn’t know what was happening, or what to do. Experiencing this slaughter of innocents was a little too realistically grisly to be called a metaphor

DVD 2 3 RELEASE Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday NOV 27 NOV 28 NOV 29 NOV 30

Searching Landscapes HOME COOKED REELS Manitoba Narrative Shorts Manitoba Documentary Shorts 4:30 curated by Kevin Nikkel curated by Mike Maryniuk * FREE ADMISSION * FREE ADMISSION

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Pre-Screening / Closing Reception & 6:00 Opening Reception Illusion of Normalcy sponsored by ACTRA Manitoba DVD Release Party

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Because There Are Illusion of Normalcy Stories Yet To Tell DVD Release and Bordertown Café Barbara James 7:00 Manitoba Aboriginal Shorts Screening by Norma Bailey by Winston Washington Moxam curated by Jenny Western * FREE ADMISSION * FREE ADMISSION PAGE 4 PAGE 14 PAGE 7 PAGE 22

Experimental Echoes Manitoba Experimental & Inertia Downtime Crime Wave 9:00 Animated Shorts by Sean Garrity by Greg Hanec by John Paizs curated by Jenny Bisch * FREE ADMISSION PAGE 11 PAGE 5 PAGE 8 PAGE 10

11:00 Hey, Happy! The Nature of Nicholas by Noam Gonick by Jeff Erbach

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Open Vault: Independent Film Week was made possible with the generous support of the City of Winnipeg through the Winnipeg Arts Council.